sub 100g/km CO2 Ford Focus Flexifuel - UK's first biofuel car
Submitted by Ford on 4 June, 2007 - 13:12
The Ford Focus Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) is Britain's first biofuel car and can run on bioethanol or petrol in any mix in the same fuel tank. Bioethanol is a renewable fuel, now on sale at 10 Morrisons supermarkets and priced cheaper than unleaded petrol.
"This is an important breakthrough for the Ford Focus FFV and the biofuel industry. Ford has been working with partners such as Morrisons for a year to make bioethanol publicly available. Together we have taken a vital next step towards encouraging more customers to consider buying Ford’s biofuel cars."
At present, forecourts selling bioethanol are in Somerset, East Anglia and East Sussex. Ford is working with regional biofuel groups to establish FFV sales and bioethanol filling stations.
The 1.8-litre Ford Focus FFV costs from £14,095. CO2 emissions from bioethanol are greatly reduced out by the CO2 absorbed by the crops such as wheat and sugar beet used to make the sustainable fuel.
Researchers at Imperial College, London, have led the first study into actual CO2 output for a Ford Focus Flexible Fuel Vehicle reflecting its use of a renewable fuel.
While Ford’s 1.8-liter FFV emits 169g CO2/km from its exhaust pipe, the Imperial College research says this drops to 99.6g when CO2 absorption by crops grown to make bio-ethanol is factored in.
Bio-fuels generally, and bio-ethanol particularly, could provide a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport. I welcome Ford’s lead in this area and trust that Government policies will encourage greater use of bio-fuels and the purchase of vehicles operating with high bio-fuel blends.
—Dr Jeremy Woods, research fellow of Imperial’s Centre for Environmental Policy
Ford engineers are also working on hybrid, clean diesel, hydrogen combustion and fuel cell powertrains to accommodate the variety of resources and requirements around the world that will dictate which technologies are likely to catch on.
Flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs), which can run on either gasoline or E85 (a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline), are making inroads in Europe, but again with a regional twist. Ethanol in North America is derived primarily from corn, but Ford FFVs in the United Kingdom are powered by bioethanol made from wheat and sugar beets.
